Paranoid
by Ravyn Skye
Summary: Simon and River certainly are... close. Is Kaylee only being paranoid? Manipulative!River, post-canon so a bit more sane than usual. Hints of possible incest, sort of... Please, if you don't like it, DON'T READ IT.


**Title:** Paranoid… ?**  
Pairing:** Implied Simon/River and Simon/Kaylee mentioned.  
**Rating:** P-13 to very Light R  
**Disclaimer:** Joss is Boss and I make nothing from writing this.  
**Word Count:** 1, 130  
**Summary:** Is Kaylee being paranoid? (Post-Serenity so River's a little more sane, though still kind of 'off')

**A/N: **First time writing for this fandom/pairing (yeah, a late-comer to the fandom) – and I'm _really_ nervous as what I've read here so far is just so far beyond anything I could ever *hope* to write.

PS: If any of the chinese is wrong - I'm blaming Joss, because it's only what he used in the series. Gorram = Damn and Mei-mei = little sister.

* * *

_Kaylee thinks she knows but won't ever say..._

**She's **dancing ballet in the cargo bay, and Simon's standing on the catwalk; just staring. He's got that sort of goofy grin on his face, but his eyes are tracing more than just a ballet dancer's graceful movements – they're tracing **her** body.

_He doesn't see Kaylee watching him, watching her._

Simon chuckles softly when River glances up to him, and she lifts one deceptively delicate hand, and crooks a single finger; beckoning Simon come to her.

_Kaylee remembers how those hands looked holding a hatchet and dripping with blood while River was surrounded by the bodies of reavers; and shivers._

With just a _little too much _eagerness he bounds down the stairs – two at a time – and meets his _mei-mei _on the cargo-bay floor. He seems to already know what she wants, and he raises an open palm.

"May I have this dance?" His teasing, winning smile and the over-bright gleam in his eyes that shine with soul-deep affection and, maybe... _something else… _Kaylee refuses to consciously acknowledge aren't out of place, but nevertheless Kaylee slides back a little further into the shadows, feeling as if she's watching something she isn't supposed to see.

'_Why…? She's his gorram sister! They're kin, for cryin' out loud!' Kaylee thinks about why she can't reconcile what she knows of reality and what she believes about Simon and River's relationship. Is she going crazy? _

All the rationalizations in the world are nothing when River slips her small hand into Simon's large one, and she bows her head like the cultured lady of the core she was raised as.

_Some twinge of jealousy sparks in Kaylee's heart as the insane thought that only one onboard to be able to match Simon's class is River flits past her troubled mind. . They're two of a kind._

'_Of course they are! They're siblings!'_ Again, the protests of her mind silence when Simon immediate pulls River close to him, and they sway in time to _her _music box.

_Suddenly Kaylee wishes with all her heart she'd said 'no' when River asked to borrow it._

She sees Simon's hand skirt along the back of River's arm and coast its way down to curl around the shelf of her hip. Still she can fool herself, until Simon's dark head lifts up and his eyes search the room, wanting to be sure he and River are _alone_.

His other hand trails up along River's back and makes its way over the swell of one thin shoulder blade as the two of them rotate in place – most of the pretense of 'dancing' together forgotten.

Simon's smooth, surgically precise, fingers slide up the satin juncture of River's neck and collarbone until his thumb lands on her chin, and tilts her face until her lips are only a few inches from his.

"_Mei mei"_ The whispered words sound like a Buddhist mantra, and he repeats them over and over, searching River's eyes and watching as her lips curl into a comforting smile he's known almost all his life.

"_Mei mei, mei mei…" _ As though he's trying to remind himself who the girl in his arms actually _is; _but what Kaylee wants to know… Needs to _know_, is if he _cares._

Each repetition is quieter than the last, but the words are pounding in Kaylee's ears so hard that if she wasn't afraid movement would give her away she'd clamp her hands over her ears and shake her head.

_Kaylee never thought she'd actually wish that she were insane, instead of being right. Past conversations flash before her with new realizations…_

"Simon… Why doncha ever open yer eyes when we're... y'know… doin' it?" Finally she's worked up the nerve to ask, and instead of acknowledging her he plays it coy.

"What are you talking about? Of course I do." It's a _lie, _and Simon _knows it_, but he prays she won't press him on this.

Kaylee only looks down and shakes her head, wishing she'd never asked.

Simon gives a smile and bops her nose affectionately, wiping away the awkwardness and the doubts – so he hopes.

Kaylee's eyes are scrunched tight as the ache in her chest weighs heavier and heavier. All this time she'd wanted to _catch him… Them_…. In a compromising position; just to prove to herself she's not just making it up in her own head, now that the moment is _here _she wishes she were anywhere but hiding in the shadows of this metal catwalk.

River lifts herself gracefully on to her toes, the way only a dancer can, and places her lips next to Simon's ear. _"Not now," _is all she breathes, but the quick dart of her eyes is enough to let Simon know they aren't alone.

Clumsily, he releases his hold on his little sister, and she takes three steps and three breaths back.

River mouths the word 'Later' and gives a little smile, while jerking her head up to where she can _feel _Kaylee is hidden.

She wishes she could stay around to watch Kaylee explain why she's spying on Simon who is _only _dancing with his _dancer _of a _sister…_ But her shift as co-pilot starts soon and she wants to wipe down the sweat from her work-out.

Kaylee is silly if she thinks she can sneak up on a _psychic _and River lets herself giggle out loud at the notion while she gathers her towel and Kaylee's music box; handing the box to Simon and telling him to return it to _her._

"What's so funny?" Simon asks, with that tell-tale twinkle in his eye, though he thinks he might have a descent idea. Even when she's _senile, _(which is less and less these days), Simon has usually had at least _some _idea of what's going on in her head… At least, he likes to _think_.

"I'll tell you _later._" River leans up to give Simon a quick sisterly peck on the cheek.

The dark-haired beauty skips away, humming some tune in a child-like cadence, mumbling under her breath the lyrics to some sing-song known only to her.

Simon can't help watching as she darts off happily humming to herself; all his adoration naked on his face for just a moment before he shakes his head and goes to deal with the _situation _on the scaffold.

If Kaylee keeps this up, he isn't sure how long he's going to be able to take it.

River hears Simon's last thought and giggles happily to herself. Simon is hers and only hers and _no one _is better at mind games than she is.

_Simon is mine… All mine… _ The lyrics to the song she dares not sing aloud that become more and more true each and every time Kaylee makes herself look _paranoid._


End file.
